May 19, 2015
Isolated and Vulnerable Elderly make Perfect Targets for Scam Artists
The 88-year-old Grand Island woman had owned a home on Long Island assessed at $469,000, family members say, before her granddaughter sold it to a friend for $200,000.
At least some of the proceeds went into a joint bank account, with withdrawals going to pay for vacations and liquor store bills, hardly the places where an elderly woman with mobility, hearing and vision problems might venture, those family members claim.
Now the granddaughter, Colleen M. Reid of Allegany County, has been charged with felony grand larceny, accused of cashing in $8,100 of her grandmother’s U.S. savings bonds, authorities say. Family members, though, believe the total of the grandmother’s unaccounted funds tops $100,000.
This is no isolated case, as the grandmother’s plight is repeated in similar stories here and across the nation.
The elderly are perfect targets for scheming scam artists, including family members...
For the full story, visit:
http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/police-courts/isolated-and-vulnerable-the-elderly-make-perfect-targets-for-scam-artists-20150519
